A small housing association in the south-west, which last year won national recognition for creating good value for money and sustainable social housing without dipping into the public purse, is continuing to break new ground.

Bristol Community Housing Foundation (BCHF) was named overall winner of the 2006 Public Services Awards after it created a successful multi-agency public private partnership to replace the 658-home Upper Horfield estate. The association came up with a winning formula for redevelopment after the local council could not secure the necessary public funding.

The association originally won the innovation and progress, finance and procurement category after the judges acknowledged the partnership showed "a complete change of approach and direction". It went on to be crowned public service of the year because judges recognised that the scheme could be successfully copied elsewhere, contributing to housing renewal nationally.

The winning initiative developed by BCHF was based on a partnership between the association, the local council, a private housing developer and a high street bank. A credit union was also brought in to fulfil the crucial role of securing rental income from social housing tenants that was needed to repay the capital investment. The success of the partnership meant that almost 1,000 new homes were built on the Upper Horfield estate - 401 for social housing and 524 for private purchase - without a penny of public sector money.

Just 12 months on, BCHF is still bringing inno vation to social housing. The association has just launched Bristol Living to act as management agents for buy-to-let landlords. The idea is to offer an "ethical" option in management and letting services to this growing breed of property landlord. Any profit made by Bristol Living is ploughed back into community housing development. The BCHF chief executive, Oona Goldsworthy, explains: "We brand it as the carbon-neutral option for private landlords who want a more morally acceptable way of managing their property."

BCHF developed Bristol Living after it became aware of the increasing grip of buy-to-let landlords on the local housing market. The association estimated that around 10% to 15% of the homes being built on the Upper Horfield were being bought by buy-to-let landlords. It decided something needed to be done so that the association could still retain control over who lived in the new homes and could guarantee that the properties remained well maintained.

Goldsworthy says: "This is all about us recognising a problem and then thinking of creating a way around it. As a housing association we are judged on what we do today and what we do tomorrow. For us, getting the Guardian award last year didn't mark the end of it."

BCHF finance director Allister Young says while other housing associations may provide management services for their own properties, BCHF is breaking new ground because it is offering the package to other landlords. "We have set this up with the aim to generate income to go back into the local area to fund the community development which we do."

He says the initiative attempts to "influence" the local housing market. Buy-to-let landlords who sign up with Bristol Living are charged a fee based on 7% of their property's rental income. In exchange, the social business will collect rent and manage repairs. Goldsworthy says: "We are like an estate agent with a social benefit. We will work for the landlord providing them with management services and repairs. At the same time we will also help the tenants by helping them access housing benefits and by getting loans from the council and rent deposits for them from credit unions."

Since winning the Guardian award last year a constant stream of visitors from other housing associations, local councils and private developers has been to Upper Horfield keen to quiz the association about how they brought a mix of private and social housing without depending on public money. The lord mayor of Bristol hosted a reception in BCHF's honour after the award was announced. All 14 employees at the housing association also took part in a team-building event provided by Hays as part of the Guardian prize.

Winning the award has also helped boost recruitment and retention and raise the association's profile. Goldsworthy says: "It has given us external recognition. It's very easy when you work in a small community not to be able to see the wider implications of what you do. The award allowed us to reflect on what we were doing and acknowledge that it was quite special. I think that was very important because we all work very hard and have little time to reflect. We very much saw the prize as an opportunity to celebrate."